ULTIMATE VICTORY

Romans 8:37-39

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through Him who loved us. 

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 

nor height nor depth, 

nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What does it mean to be MORE than conquerors? We usually think of something that has been conquered to be completely beaten and the most that can be done to defeat the opposition. What we need to find out, is what it means to be more than what we consider to be the highest point of victory.

I have written before about the fact that there is a very real, spiritual battle that we are part of everyday of our lives. (http://continuingtobestretched.blogspot.com/2012/11/invisible-yet-real.html)

Though our enemy in this spiritual battle is strong, the Lord’s side will always have the ultimate victory. Because we are children of God, we are soldiers in the army of the Lord. Because we are His soldiers, we are on the victor’s side. This is what makes us conquerors.

But what is more? When we continue reading the rest of the passage, we realize that the “more” being spoken of in this passage is: everlasting victory. Our finite minds tend to only acknowledge the victory of forgiveness that we are given in this life, when really there are so many blessings the Lord has for us that we have yet to tap into!

So now we know that what this passage is talking about when it says “more than conquerors.” More is something much greater than what we know in this life. We can see that as a child of God, nothing in the spiritual realm or the physical realm can EVER separate us from the love of God. This is how we are more than conquerors; we have victory over the clutches of sin forever!

THREE WORDS

John 18: 4-7

So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

He said to them, “I am He.”

And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.

So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?”

And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

(This Conversation takes place right after Jesus had been praying in the garden and right before he was arrested to be crucified)

Jesus knew what He was about to experience. He knew that He had been born to die for the sins of the world. When the soldiers told Him who they were looking for, Jesus’ answer alone knocked them over backwards!

I AM HE

Those three words had the power to knock down hundreds of men. Imagine being knocked over by the very words that came out of the man’s mouth that you were about to arrest. Jesus had all the power that was needed to change what He was about to go through, but He chose not to use it to defend himself. Instead He willingly allowed the soldiers to take Him and treat Him in ways that He did not deserve, and ultimately kill Him.

It appears that the soldiers that had come to arrest Jesus had no idea what He looked like. They found out who He was very quickly though. Even after those words boomed from Jesus’ mouth and knocked them over, we know that they continued on their task, and arrested Jesus.

So what can we take away from this? We know that this is an awesome account of how powerful our God is, but there are a few lessons to learn here.

1.      Never under-estimate the power of God and what He can do. Unfortunately, we do this far too often when we lack faith in our God.

2.    Just as the soldiers acted as if they didn't know what hit them and ignored the fact that Jesus was all-powerful, we must be aware of how easy it is to be blind to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the pricking of our consciences.

3.    We must not find ourselves being like Judas. He stood with the soldiers who missed out on the blessing of recognizing how powerful the word of the Lord really is.

These three words are for us even today…. I AM HE. Never doubt the existence of our great and powerful God!

RIGHT HERE... RIGHT NOW

Philippians 4:11

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. 

What is the root of the “dark cloud” of unhappiness which lingers over our society today? It is easy to find the common link between people and their unhappy nature. It is discontentment. The discontentment that comes to us so easily is what drags us down and gives us an attitude or sense of purposelessness.

If we look around and allow ourselves to be aware of what is happening, we will quickly begin to see what we are allowing the world to drag us into. The world expects us to keep up with its fast-paced mentality. It seems as though everyone wants to get to the end of their lives as quickly as possible. When we fall into the trap of taking part of this unhealthy race, we allow ourselves to fit right in with the rest of our unsatisfied society.

There is a different way. If we take another look around us, after we have opened our eyes to the untruths that the world is trying to fool us with, we can find the blessings that the Lord has placed right in front of us. If we can learn to embrace God’s perfect plan, we will begin to realize that there is more to life than the constant race to the end.

So let us be content in whatever circumstance we are faced with. Only then will we realize that there is so much to learn from and grow through in life. We mustn't rush past it all. We must make ourselves available to God, ready to do His will. The Lord has so much to reveal to us!